Being ‘Different’
I’ve always thought I was different. I’ve always thought I live a unique life. I’m in a family of five; not including me, I have a mother, father and two brothers(younger & older). I know it sounds like an average family, but keep reading! We’ve immigrated to Canada when I was 10 years old. I wouldn’t know how it’s like for my parents, but I could at least imagine the stress and pressure creeping into them.
For at least a decade, they’ve worked multiple jobs to support the family. It’s tough, I’ve somewhat been there(which I’ll talk about later). In addition to a lack of rest from working multiple jobs, we’ve found out in our first 2 years here that my younger brother is autistic-a low functional non-verbal autism. I didn’t know what it was. I never truly knew what it was until my early 20s. It never peaked my curiosity! All I knew was that he won’t be able to speak language or behave nearly as “normally" as anybody.
How’s this stressful you may ask? Here’s a list:
- It’s difficult to communicate with him.
- There has to be at least one person at home at all times. Which means everybody in the family has to coordinate who’s going to be home.
- At times he’d be very destructive out of impulse.
- Nobody can truly take a me-time; no time to see friends and do anything outside our home, because we’d either be too emotionally exhausted to go out or we have to babysit.
- It was eventually hard to go to school without thinking about my younger brother and parents. I failed a lot of courses because of the immense stress.
Just with my younger brother, the load on our shoulders were pretty darn heavy. This is not to say I don’t love him. I do. I love him like any family member loves their kin. It’s the truth that I had to accept.
Another thing that made me feel different was how I live. I do not like to follow trends whether it’s behavioural, fashion, or anything. I’ve been pushed to be like others, but I never submitted. It was just annoying. I started doing things alone such as watching a movie, hiking, or biking. I don’t need a friend to do things with. If they can’t make it, then they can’t make it. I’ll still do things regardless.
My favourite reason why I’m just different is because I’m an entrepreneur with a jack of all trades skill set. Everything taught me to be patience, to persevere, work hard, work smart, strategic, creative, and so many more. My battle hasn’t been easy, but I wouldn’t be self-motivated if it wasn’t for all of that. I wouldn’t know how hard to fight. I wouldn’t know how to work creatively with minimal resources.
To end this piece I just want to say that being different is hard when you consider all the factors that play in pressuring you to be someone you ought to be. Sometimes there are things people do that you really want to do, but couldn’t. There will be a lot of things that you’d be envious about. Though get this. Everything in life is to prepare you for something big. Something rewarding. Because had it not been for my early experience in life, I wouldn’t be self-sufficient at all. And it’s arguable the greatest reward any individual could grow up to be.
